Wu
Guanzheng, secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC)
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, reported on Tuesday
that from December 2003 to November 2004 the commission settled
160,602 cases of cadre misconduct. It took disciplinary action
against 164,831 Party members and transferred 4,775 serious
offenders to the judiciary departments.
"We punish every rotten cadre we can find. No one can get away
with corruption," said Wu, who is also a member of the Standing
Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. "We
will never go soft on this issue."
Wu said the anti-corruption campaign last year focused on
high-ranking officials who took bribes or allowed their spouses or
children to take advantage of public resources in their private
businesses.
The commission determined that Party officials misused 2.5
billion yuan (US$303.7 million) in public funds in 2004. Another
1.5 billion yuan (US$175.9 million) was used illegally to buy
commercial insurance for staffers.
Wu said efforts were enhanced to wipe out corruption that
infringes on the interests of disadvantaged people, such as farmers
in land acquisition deals, urban residents in relocation projects,
employees of state-owned firms in corporate regrouping and
bankruptcy deals and migrant workers.
Although progress has been made, the commission report indicated
that much remains to be done.
"Despite the achievements, our anti-graft campaign failed to
effectively cover certain localities where corruption was rampant,
and local people were dissatisfied because their interests were not
properly protected," Wu said.
He vowed to increase efforts in the new year to stamp out
corruption. "We will improve the system to uproot corruption," he
said.
(Xinhua News Agency February 16, 2005)